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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  December 10, 2012 8:00am-9:00am PST

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as the saying goes, food is the best medicine. so here with a few tips to boost your memory. first, eat more salmon, walnuts and ground flaxseed. these contain healthy ome omega acids that boost memory. and don't forget your colorful vegetables and fruits like blueberries and blue potatoes. they contain antioxidants that give the food their color, but they help to boost memory, too. thanks for joining us. today, cnn "newsroom" continues with ashleigh banfield. >> nice to see you, everyone. hello. it is 11:00 on the east coast. 8:00 a.m. on the west coast. how far is too far? that question is being asked
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around the world today as outrage seems to be building over the tragic death of a nurse in britain who was duped by a prank phone call from two australian deejays. both posing as queen elizabeth and prince charles. as you've probably heard by now, they said they were calling to check on the condition of prince william's pregnant wife, the duchess of cambridge, who was being treated at the hospital for acute morning sickness. we now have a photo of the nurse who committed suicide. it's being released by the london police. she was the one who took the call and passed that on to catherine's ward and another nurse released confidential information on catherine's condition. the station aired the recording of the call on tuesday and on friday, this nurse was found dead after apparently a suicide. the deejays are you off the air. they are speaking out saying they are devastated with this death. >> there is nothing that can make me feel worse than what i feel right now and for what i
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feel for the family. we're so sorry that this has happened to them. >> matthew chance is covering the latest developments in london. matthew, do we know anything more about this suicide and what also might have caused this nurse to take her own life? >> well, we haven't got much in terms of hard facts about what the actual cause of death was. there's an autopsy going to be held tomorrow here in london where the coroners will be able to sort of establish when the cause of death was. but one of the things that radio station is that there's been way, way too much emphasis being placed on the prank call as the only factor in this suspected suicide. there are other issues as well, they say, the psychological disposition first of all of the nurse, and also, the possible role the hospital may have played in putting some kind of
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pressure on the nurse when it emerged that she was the won who took the call and didn't go through proper protocall and passed it through to the ward. the hospital has already moved quickly to end any suggestion that it took disciplinary action against the nurse, saying that it didn't do that. it also said it was trying to support her, in fact, in what it called a difficult period, so they've already moved to try to deflect any criticism that may have come their way that they may have mishandled this. >> obviously, the deejays are devastated by this. if you can read into their interviews, they seem as though they're just tortured by what's happened. what more do we know about their reaction to this? >> yeah, actually, tortured, shattered, devastated. this all started off as a light hearted gag from their point of view. they make the point which is sort of quite reasonable, they had no way of really knowing
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what the tragic consequences of this prank call would be. prank calls take place in radio stations all over america, all over the world and they don't end up like this, and so, this is a particular incident and as such, the radio station is asking for emphasis to be taking elsewhere. as for the deejays themselves, absolutely devastating. they gave an interview, their first interview to the australian networks today. >> unfortunately, i remember that moment very well because i haven't stopped thinking about it. since it happened. >> when you found out she was with two children -- >> very sorry and saddened for the family and i can't imagine what they've been going through. >> what about you? >> gutted. you know. shattered. heartbroken. >> both of them are themselves
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now receiving counseling now as well according to the radio station. they've been suspended, their show has been canceled. obviously, big questioning hanging over their futures. >> such a distressing story. thank you for that. want to turn now to the war in afghanistan and what is being considered a daring rescue mission by a u.s. special forces team. the team rescued an american doctor seen here who had been kidnapped either by taliban or by smugglers. that part still unclear. but during the mission, a member of the team, a navy s.e.a.l., sadly was killed. he was a member of s.e.a.l. team six, the same elite unit that took part in the raid that killed osama bin laden. president obama paid tribute to the fallen s.e.a.l. saying quote, he gave his life for his fellow americans, end quote.
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chris lawrence is at the pentagon right now with home run on this mission. first of all, i think, chris, a lot of people didn't even know there was a doctor who had been kidnapped and needed rescuing. what's the story behind this? >> and that's not all that unusual. a lot of times, they will not publicize a kidnapping while they are still sorting out the particulars or trying to ascertain whether they might launch a rescue mission. it often does more harm than good to put it out there and put the details out there. so that's not all that unusual. in this case, the doctor was working for morning star. a non-profit agency. he was with two local afghan, i believe at least one of them was a doctor as well, and they were coming back from a rural medical clinic east of kabul when armed men basically stopped their vehicle and kidnapped them. they then took them to a camp about 50 miles from the pakistani border and over the next few days, their charity had some sporadic contact with the kidnappers and we're told by a local tribal leader that the
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family of one of the afghan doctors who was kidnapped paid the kidnappers about $12,000 to get him back. those two were freed, but then the u.s. officials got word, probably not only surveillance, but also word from the ground. from informants on the ground, that dr. joseph, the american, his life was in imminent danger. that's when they authorized the mission to send the s.e.a.l. team in. they did get dr. joseph out, but unfortunately, one s.e.a.l. was killed in that mission. >> and what about that s.e.a.l. member? i think i heard that the government would consider releasing his name, but not his connection perhaps to anything that might have had to do with osama bin laden's assassination, right? >> correct. we know from a u.s. official, it was told to us that he was a member of the naval special war fair development group. s.e.a.l. team six. a very elite unit, but we are
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not being told whether he was actually part of that smaller team that actually went into the bin laden compound and took out osama bin laden. we do expect that the navy will release the name of this fallen hero sometime later today. they probably will not name his exact unit. >> all right. thanks. chris lawrence live for us at the pent dpon this morning. thank you. >> yeah. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ breathes deeply ] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! it's lots of things. all waking up. ♪ becoming part of the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ trees will talk to networks will talk to scientists about climate change. cars will talk to road sensors
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it's been almost two years since the arab spring in egypt. for those who thought that the ouster of their former dictator was the realizization of their dreams, there may be a new nightmare playing out under the man they hired to replace him because he has demanded powers above the constitution and that's not sitting well with people in egypt and he just gave the green light to the military to start arresting people in the streets. what does mean to you, many, egypt? joining me now is host of fareed zakari gps. what seems to be the issue? is this truly a grab for power
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by this president that the people don't want or is there more of a religious undertone to this? >> see, i think the way we should think about this is we think of democracy as being all the good things in government we like, but really, democracy is lots of votes and participation, but also, liberty. rule of law. and what you're seeing in egypt, they've got lots of democracy. they've got lots of votes, but the elected representative, in this case, the elected president, is not as keen on the whole other bunch of stuff. the rule of law, separation of power, individual lib erties, s he's trying to do a power grab. this is the drama that's playing out between democracy on the one hand and on individual liberty. >> what seems confusing, what morsi did with his decree, declaring himself more powerful than the supreme court, he's also at the same time saying he's going to put this to the people to vote on a referendum and that should assuage those
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who don't like, just go to the ballot box. >> but think of what i just said, so yeah, you could get the people to agree to a constitution that does not protect the rights of minorities, that does not institute the rule of law in judicial review. there's always been distension. hitler was elected democratically, so the fact morsi can go to the people and more than popularity, because of organization, the islamic parties tend to win in these elections. >> it's not as though the people of egypt would like to see this kind of rule put in place. it's that the government and the forces of mohammed morsi are just better at getting people to the polls to vote for it. >> precisely and that's why this kind of super presidency is so dangerous. it's not like he's getting 80% of the vote. in the last election, he won just 24% of the vote. then they had a run off, then he
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got 51% o f the vote. egypt is a divided country. the question is, can the liberals, democrats and the good guys organize themselves to fight this stuff. exactly. >> form a party, so to speak. >> rather than four. and you know what? this is going to be their drama and they've got to make it work. >> and the drama today with this move seems rather frightening for people who watched what happened in tahrir square. we all watched as camels and horses came in and attacking people and beating them. what do we know about the kind of martial law that the president decided needs to be instill? >> he claims it's temporary. it's bet erat than ruling by constitutional decree. the constitution everyone wants to put in place would not allow him to do this kind of thing. let's hope it's a temporary measure. the constitution that is going to be adopted contains within it a lot of stuff that allows for
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islamic law, that allows for women's rights to be abrogated. that's the part we should worry about and the united states should be telling egypt, look, if you want aid from us, you've got to protect women's rights, minority rights. our aid to you is contingent. >> and women's rights, a very big part of this. the opposition suggesting there is stuff in this that really limits women's rights. the k you stick around? i have a bunch of other questions about syria, chemical questions. we're right back in just a moment. first rule of taking the world by surprise? do something the world will actually notice. introducing the entirely new ford fusion. with a turbo-charged ecoboost engines and a hybrid that doubles the fuel economy of the average vehicle. it's an entirely new idea of what a car can be.
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so, if you thought the problem in syria was bad, how about this. the chemical weapons situation, the fear that perhaps bashar al assad might actually use chemical weapons on his own people now being exacerbated on a report that perhaps the blame is coming back to us and the accusation from the syrians that we're trying to actually get a hold of those chemical weapons and make it look like the syrian regime has done so. fareed zakari's back with us to talk about this report.
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it seems as though this is rather serious. only the government, assad's administration has sent a couple of letters to the u.n. suggesting this is all a big plot by the u.s. to get those weapons into the hands of opposition members and then blame the syrians. does this seem logical or like a reach? >> i think it's part of a strategy that the assad regime has decided upon, which is that america is the cause of this. that there is an internal group of terrorists supported by the united states and saudi arabia, so this is part of what the syrians are doing. it's a last ditch effort. i don't think anyone in syria believes it. there's zero chance that the united states is doipg anything like this. it's always clear it's a reaction to president obama's very tough warning to the syrians. that they shouldn't even think about using chemical weapons. >> i'm curious only because there is this report now that
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united states is employed military contractors on the ground. i think in turkey and jordan, but also inside syria, to help opposition members. should they get their hands on some of these chemical weapons to a, secure them, and b, protect them and c, to do whatever else with them. could that be the catalyst for what syrians are saying and might there be a monocal of truth to their concern if we are in there trying to make sure those chemical weapons do or don't go where they're supposed? >> i think that's possible, but i would guess that it would be very difficult for the opposition forces to get to the chemical weapons. these are held by the most elite of the elite in the syrian army. the army still remains very robust and one of the reasons the syrian regime has not collapsed is that it has a very strong army. traditionally, this was thought to be the strongest army in the arab world. >> more so than the israeli
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defense force? >> in the arab world. that was the toughest opposition. >> is this a name that i need to know? nusra front? the reason i say that is because there is this report that this is an extraordinarily small, but strong fighting force among the opposition members and they were born of al-qaeda. >> this is a fascinating story. what you're realizing is as the conflict in syria goes on, the most radical elements, the strongest tend to be islamic fundamentalists and to be jihadis and this group, small but tough, is affiliated with al-qaeda. to my mind, it makes the point that the administration has been trying to make throughout. we've got to be very careful before we start supporting various groups within syria who happen to be opposition to
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assad. if we find ourselves funding them or giving them weapons, a group like this, you could very easily imagine five, ten years later, the same weapons we sell them or give them would be used against us in a terrorist attack. >> it happened in afghanistan and it seems innocuous to us. >> in those days, we thought that the most devout were the best guys because these are the guys fighting the hardest. they seem you know, religiously conservative. what could be bad about that? >> right. we all know. fareed, it's always good to see you. >> great to see you. >> you must watch his program. sunday at 10:00 a.m., also podcast. come back? >> i'd be delighted. >> we'll be back after this. [ male announcer ] this is sheldon, whose long dy setting up the news
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i just want to get this out of the way. fiscal cliff. i said it. i know you've heard it. a lot. but it turns out you might not have heard it enough because after another week without real progress in washington, the possibility of plunging off that cliff is become iing more of a reality and we're just tu 22 days and counting, but for the first time in ore three weeks, president obama and house speaker john boehner actually stood in the same room. they breathed the same air, folks, and they talked and that's a big deal. especially since there's been so little of that going on lately. after the meeting, spokesman for both boehner and the president issued identical statements. that's nice. simply saying the line of communication remain open. that is promising according to former white house chief of staff erskine bowles. >> they've started to tango now
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and anytime you've got two guys tangoing. you've got a chance to get it done. >> how are the warnings affecting you? the american consumer. in the last few weeks, we have seen record shopping and black friday sales. we've also seen jobs numbers that are up. and today, fedex is expecting its busiest day ever. shipping about 19 million pa packages. that is about 20 packages per second. and loads of jet fuel. christine romans joining me now with more. those sound like great indicators. you're the trend lady. do the trends look like they're going to continue despite this horror show of the fiscal cliff? >> there's a bunch of things going for consumers. you named some, but you've also got the stock market. job growth. rising home values. you've been seeing home values tick up slowly, but surely over the last few months.
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gas prices are down 46 cents in two months an they could keep going lower and stock market gains, you've got 13,000 on the dow. the dow has been pretty much factoring in that they're going to fix the fiscal cliff, but sentiment is starting to show signs of wobbling as "the wall street journal" put it today. >> wobbling along and all the uncertainty until now. >> we have had these things going for us and now, we're getting closer and closer to the wire and consumers are starting to say wait a minute. they're hoping they're going to get a tax refund to help pay for their presents. they don't know what that's going to look like. will the fiscal cliff affect your personal situation? only 6% say not at all. so you're starting to get closer to the line here and becoming more concerned. >> i said about the top, 22 days. but you get a paycheck. i get a paycheck. a lot of people watching us right now get their paychecks and see those deductions and
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payroll and that is all of a sudden becoming a big uh oh. >> and for people who process payrolls, it's actually december 14th, they say. they need to know for the software systems, for the way they're cutting your check for the beginning of the year, this is what the processors association basically says. they say, the american payroll association, a delay in legislature beyond december 14th doesn't give all businesses enough time to update for early january paychecks. they say it's worse if you delay a decision a few months because they can't figure out how to go back and change your withholdings. it's all kind of a software nightmare. >> it's going to be up to us then? our deductions won't be what they should be and therefore when we face the tax man? >> and there's multiple layers here.
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an amt fix we have to talk about. the payroll tax holiday. you get about 20 bucks extra a week. that's separate from the bush era tax rates that could change. all of this just to tell you that the markets have held in very, very well, the markets are telling us they think something's going to get done so it behooves washington not to give it up. >> are you free for the rest of the week? >> how about the rest of the ye year? >> i just signed you up for a little job. because the fiscal cliff is so confusing on a personal level, we're asking, go ahead and tweet us your questions. we figured this would be a good idea to put you guys to work. thatst the address. specific questions about how the fiscal cliff could impact you, your family or business and we've got the experts literally live as your financial planners live on the air to answer some of those questions. are you glad that i just signed you up for that?
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it is devisive, ferociously debated. now, same-sex marriage is going all the way to the united states supreme court. just as women's rights did decades ago and there are two constitutional questions that the justices need to sort out. a challenge to the federal defense of marriage act. and also, california's proposition-8 and how's this for a backdrop? in washington state, thousands of gay couples got married on sunday. and the new year promises the same for those in maryland and maine when their new state laws take effect. right now, same-sex marriage is legal in nine states and washington, but it's either banned or not recognized in more than 30 states and just not recognized at all by federal law
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either. that's the defense of marriage act. a high court has been split on nearly every major decision. john roberts has also been a wild card on occasion, so as you can imagine, past opinions of these people have become a bit of a window perhaps to what future decisions may yield and this has critics and supporters of gay marriage on edge and waiting and that includes evan wils wilson, the director of freedom to marry or god father of the gay marriage movement. so, i hear people asking the question of either people who are before or against the issue of gay marriage. you must be excited that the supreme court is finally going to take this up. some people are excited. some people are very worried. how are you feeling? >> right, well, the stakes are very, very high and there's good reason to be excited and hopeful that the court's going to do the right thing for the couples seeking the freedom to marry and
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there's good reason to be nervous. what i like to do is focus on how i can make a difference. instead of sitting around worrying, i want to get out there and do everything i can to maximize our chances of winning. >> and what would dwrou you do? >> winning more states. creating the climate that says to the judge, you can do the right thing and not only will it stand the test of time, but it will be true to where the american people are. the more we can show that momentum, the more we can make progress on the ground, the more we show where the right side of history is. >> is is history trying to seek out -- from the top levels, people across the country. friend of the court briefs in support of your position? >> yes, i think there will be powerful voices heard. business, labor. social welfare. human relations. all these kinds of groups will be heard from front of court along with the stories of couples. look, the advocates are going to do a great job in these cases.
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they're terrific on both, but we need to be making the same strong case in court of public opinion. >> things have shifted dramatically in this country in just a few short years and in a decade in terms of how people weigh in on gay marriage and now, it looks like a majority is pro gay marriage. so it's sort of an odd question because the supreme court's going to decide. they're going to decide either yes or no. they haven't reject looking at this case, so whatever they do will be precipice. >> they added a question about whether the anti gay side has standing. so we don't actually know, when the trial judge ruled there's no good reason for this discrimination. >> two technicalities like that. >> each case has a technical question. so don't know what the court's going to do. >> so, if the court decides to get beyond those two technicalities and rule, adjudicate this case, it effectively becomes law of the
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land. in the case of prop 8, it becomes precedent, which could mean law of the land for every state. >> but again, the court in the prop 8 case -- stripping it away selectively from one group of people was unconstitutional or the court could do a broader ruling and say that it is unconstitutional jeb generally to deny loving couples the freedom to marry. >> it means california -- >> would be restoreded. and just california and time would continue to build and we would continue to build more states like we won new york, maine. go forward. but the story of our country is never that we have to in all 50 states, fight for our basic freedoms. the idea is that we get enough states, enough progress, people understand it and then the court finishes the job. >> let me ask you about some of the opinions that have been written by anthony kennedy because i think that is very telling as to where his mind is. whether he morally agrees or
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disagrees with the notion of gay marriage. in 1992 in roe v. wade he wrote our obligation is to define the liberty of all, not to mandate our own moral code. he's personally opposed to abortion, but voteded in the opposite. there's also in 1996, kennedy was ruling -- voter measure that repealed gay rights ordnances. he wrote the measure was born of on nosty towards gays. the constitution prohibits laws signalling out citizens for general hardships. those are pretty strong words that sound as though he's in the bag. >> i would never consider any justice in the bag, but i think justice kennedy has some very powerful liberty rulings to be proud of and this will be should he rule the right way, consistent with his jurisprudence of liberty.
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i think all these judges have to ask themselves knowing where the country's going, where the people are, do i want to be the last gasp of prejudice or stand on the right side of history. >> as a final question, now that the court will likely make the decision, if it's not the decision that you are seeking, would you be regretful that the movement decided to put this into the courts in the first place because right now, any ballot measure it would seem in california might be a snap for you. >> no, ballot measures are very, very difficult and the whole idea that people should have to go and put their right up to your freedom of speech, someone else's freedom of religion, my freedom to marry. should you decide that? that's not the way america's supposed to operate. the reason we have constitution and courts is to vindicate the
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rights of all of us. the best thing we can do to make this the right time, win more states and keep that momentum going to e show the justices they can do the right thing. >> i think you only have a couple of months. it's great to talk to you. thanks. generally speaking, i think there are a lot of shifts and changes and this be fascinating to see what these nine justices do. >> and what we do not meantime. >> thanks for coming in. nice to meet you. the supreme court will likely hear oral arguments in march. that's what we're told, so if you're waiting on the date for the ruling, don't have a date for you, but you can bet your bottom dollar it will be late june. hter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. citi price rewind.
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will talk to stoplights about traffic efficiency. the ambulance will talk to patient records will talk to doctors about saving lives. it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. the next big thing? we're going to wake the world up. ♪ and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. ♪ cisco. tomorrow starts here. experts say what happens over the next 48 hours in michigan could change the course of the nation's labor movement. that's because the state's house and senate are trying to hammer out some legislation there that's going to make michigan the 24th right to work state. opponents say that will lower
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wages and benefits and hurt the middle class and that strong unions built michigan's middle class. but supporters say the legislation will spark economic growth and encourage fairness. our alison kosik is live in lansing with the latest. i know they're really bracing for an onslaught of people. specifically by tomorrow. lay out the essentials of the story for me if you would. >> exactly. they are police are bracing for what's to come tomorrow. right now is sort of the quiet before the storm. you know, you see the barricades going up here and there is a pretty good police presence here today in and around the state capital building here in michigan in preparation for who's to come because last week, we got a taste of it. thousands of demonstrators descends upon this building as these votes were coming through on this right to work law. and you know, as we get closer to the final votes, which are expected to happen tomorrow, these demonstrations are expected to grow even more intense.
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what's going to happen tomorrow is the house and senate inside the building here, each has to pass each other's bill and once that happens, by the way, the votes will start around 10:00 a.m. once that happens and it is expected to pass, that bill will go to governor snyder's desk for his signature. the governor met with a delegation of congress congressional democrats this morning. they asked the governor to veto or at least delay his decision. the governor says he will seriously consider their concerns. >> and just quickly, the president is on his way to michigan as well today. is that coincidence? >> it could be. but you know, the white house did speak out against this bill last week. with the white house spokesman saying you know, speaking out against it and it's not the first time president obama has been against right to work legislation. you looked at what happened in wisconsin with governor scott
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walker. his attempt to take away collective bargaining rights and he's spoken out about this, too, saying that unions have helped the meddle class and that they've helped the american economy. >> alison kosik, live for us watching the impending crowds in lansing. stay with cnn today at 2:00 p.m. eastern, when president obama is set to speak live. we're also going to see if he has anything to say about exactly what alison was just reporting on and i have some breaking news. an update about the death of the navy s.e.a.l. in afghanistan that we brought you just about a half hour ago. the defense department is now sending out his identity. and he -- he was petty officer first class nicholas check. 28 years old of monroeville,
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pennsylvania. special op killed in action during that special forces mission to rescue an american doctor in afghanistan. that doctor, he was either kidnapped by taliban or smugglers. we do know that check was a member of s.e.a.l. team six. the same team that carried out the raid and got osama bin laden, but as expected, the government is not telling us right now if -- sadly, petty officer check was part of that raid.
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if washington can't keep us in this country from plunging off a fiscal cliff, there seems to be more at astake than many know. we know about the massive taxes and the big cuts to the military and entitlement programs, but there's something else that could happen, and it could directly impact the safety of the food you buy and the food you eat. here's cnn's emily schmidt with the details.
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>> i like this one. >> reporter: preparing for the holidays at their house is a reminder of something else just around the corner, a fiscal cliff deadline that is personal here. >> i just can't imagine funding being cut at this point. it would be tragic. >> she's worried mandatory budget cuts would hurt food safety inspection that's mattered to her since her twins were born in 1999. >> chloe was in the hospital for two weeks and luke for three. >> they got listeria poisoning from meat she ate while pregnant. they same it sickened 48 million people a year, 3,000 die. the fda and the usd a's food safety and inspection sfgs are charged with protecting the food supply. an 8.2% budget cut translating to a combined $157 million. there's no word what cuts mean to inspector staffing. >> both fda and usda are stretched thin when it comes to the inspection activities and the food safety work they do.
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they need increased resources and not fewer resources. >> agencies always say they're stretched. >> dean clancy is with freedom works, an organization that promotes smaller government. he says it leaving nothing to fear. >> arguing to get spending under control endangers public health and safety is a really irresponsible scare tactic, especially when you realize these aren't real cuts. these are reductions from anticipated increases in spending. >> cut the budget for the work these agencies do it will significantly impact them today and tomorrow. >> you made that one, didn't you? >> tressa and her kids are now healthy and food safety advocates. >> remember, we all have to eat. >> they say nobody should have to fear what they eat. >> that was emily schmidt reporting. the fiscal cliff is a pretty confusing topic for a lot of people, how it affects you and your family. we want to give you the chance to ask our personal money
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experts, our team to take specific questions from you about how the fiscal cliff impacts you and your family and your business. send me your questions on twitter all this week christine and ali will be here to answer questions directly and give you all the information you need. once again @cnnashleigh. tweet me. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro.
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a he line of severe weather is bringing rain and nightmares for the airports. the cancellations are across the southeast, and it's the same storm system that dropped down a couple of tornadoes as well, and that's when things get ugly. chad myers is here about details. does anybody still have to be worried? >> yes, from montgomery to almost new orleans with tornado watches. we have a couple of warnings in effect as well. remember, the warning word has more letters, and therefore it's more important. it's the bad one. when you hear "warning" that's the bad one. tornado warning is worse than a
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watch. watch just means, hey, something could happen today. let me show you what happened over the weekend with the same system on the north side. it's not breaking news when we show you snow in wisconsin, but this has been a very dry beginning of the snow season up there. they can really use the snow cover, and also, they want to play in it. the people in the south -- they want snow to go away. people up north want to play because they have all the toys. down south not expecting this in dallas, texas this morning. it wasn't really sticking but it was blowing around in the lights. wfaa is a pretty sight there. maybe get you in the mood to buy gloves. >> that's denton, texas, right? >> denton, don't mess with texas. >> i used to live in north texas, and i know when it snows the whole world shuts down. it's a big deal when it snows in north texas. tell me about minnesota. you showed wisconsin pictures,
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which were beautiful. minnesota knows snow as well. boy, did they get dumped on. >> over a foot of snow in so many spots. that's great, because i grew up in buffalo. if we didn't get six inches of snow by morning, school was not canceled. you still had to go. the buses ran way or another. >> i'm from canada and never heard of a snow day. never heard of a snow day. you literally have to -- there has been to be a complete one dropping over canada before a snow day and anyone goes to school. we had such huge equipment. overnight everything is gone. you wake up and the streets are all cleared and budgets are still there. >> and nobody's in trouble. the mayors are still employed, right? let's get back to the severe weather for a second, because all this cold air and snow is pushing into some warm air if you walk outside in atlanta, it's warm and very warm. the same cold air pushing into the warm air here, we will see thunderstorms, maybe some still rotating, still tornadoes possible today into the rest of the afternoon.
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we'll keep you advised if anybody drons to the ground, h ashl ashlas ashl ashlas ashleigh. i have another story i want to bring to you from the courts, shall we say. that legal saga of dominique strauss-kahn could come to aend. this man is the former chief of the international monetary fund and was accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid last year in new york city. the lawyers for him and the lawyers for the maid are supposed to get foeg in court at 2:00 p.m. today in new york. it's amid reports he's going to settle with her. the fallout from that scandal is irrepable. it forced him to resign as chief of the imf for one, and then it decimated his hopes of running for president in france. last time around anyway. so now different stage, a little bit lighter, shall we